


caramel toffee

by csbins



Category: Cravity (Band)
Genre: Fluffy, Gen, just plain fluff, serim and hyeongjun are cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23919682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/csbins/pseuds/csbins
Summary: one sweet delight at a time, hyeongjun finds his worries fading away
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	caramel toffee

Hyeongjun is a dancer. the kind that lives and breathes dancing, mastering the movements of his agile body from dusk to dawn and exhausting himself until perfection has been achieved. He is an artist, his paintbrush the rhythm he moves in to the music blaring from his speakers. For hours on end, he works away, until he is satisfied by the figure moving in the mirror in front of him. but until then, he continues to dance. The mirrors fog up and it irritates him to have to stop in the middle and clean just so he wouldn't miss a single detail. He hears the song come to an end for the 11th time tonight and sighs, still not completely satisfied with himself. 

"Again, from the top," he says out loud, although no one but him stands in the practice room, and taps his phone to play the song once again, lightly jogging back to his spot. He starts off perfectly, and the sight of confidence taking over his body becomes a reminder that, even at his young age, his skill and talent remain unmatched. 1 minute into the song, all is good as Hyeongjun inwardly beams at the fact that he hasn't made a single error yet. Seconds tick by, but they begin to feel like hours to his body. as the sun takes over the early morning sky outside, exhaustion creeps over him, his feet begging for rest. He loses his balance on the hardwood floor, his feet feeling numb as he lands on his knee. the strength to control his emotions fades, as hot angry tears trickled down his face. Why now? Why now of all times? 

The fall didn't hurt as much as not being able to do well. 9 of them were to perform on stage together, and he refuses to be the one whose mistakes ruined the performance as a whole. The voices in his head taunt him endlessly. "If Hyeongjun didn't do that, it would have been fine," one voice said. "Careless mistakes, what a rookie mistake," another followed, with an equal amount of malice as the first. "I wouldn't expect this from someone who already debuted once." The third snaps something in Hyeongjun's brain, and the tears continue flowing as he feels inexplicable anger. What pushes him to work so hard? Is it his own perfectionism? Or is it the fear of other people? He doesn't know if he works for himself anymore, and he tightly shuts his eyes as the voices grow louder and meaner. 

"Take a break, please. You deserve a break."

Hyeongjun doesn't budge, the thoughts in his head so overwhelming that the voice he hears feels like one among the many others that echo in his mind. But this one feels louder, so much more real than the others, and it isn't until he opens his eyes that he realises that he heard it from his left. His vision bleary through his tears, he turns his head and makes out someone in a puffy jacket crouching down next to him. He blinks until the sight becomes clearer, and sees Serim with his eyebrows furrowed in concern, his eyes soft and warm enough to feel like home to anyone. Hyeongjun turns his head back, burying his face in his hands. He didn't want Serim to see him like this; in fact, he'd rather have not let any member see him break down, because it really was disappointing them that scared him so much. Serim stayed still and silent, and all that was heard for a while was Hyeongjun sniffling, trying to calm himself down so he could start over. Hyeongjun debates internally on whether to tell Serim to leave so he could get himself together and practice one more time before heading back to the dorm for barely 2 hours of sleep. That is, until he feels Serim wrap his arms around him gently.

It makes him want to cry more. Unspoken words felt understood between the two, and, while Hyeongjun didn't say it, he was eternally thankful to the older man hugging him. The voices in his head begin to gradually quiet down and his breathing regulates. He almost whimpers when Serim's arms let go of him to dig in the front pocket of his backpack, golden wrapper glinting in the clasps of his hands, which approach Hyeongjun.

"Here. Eat this. Give yourself time to breathe, then let's go home." He speaks softly, but Hyeongjun knows he won't take no for an answer. "You've done enough for today."

He nods, and Serim puts the caramel toffee into his hands. Hyeongjun smiles inside, because he knows what a comfort something so simple as caramel toffee has become to everyone in the dorm. The homesick, the stressed, the angry. Every single one of them feel remedied by the caramel toffee Serim carries around in his backpack, even the ones who aren't the biggest fans of sweets. Life as they prepare to debut, a second time for some, is hard and the day they debut feels so distant, but Hyeongjun can be sure of one thing; they're blessed to have someone like Serim in their team, standing like their pillar.

He takes the little cube out of its wrapper, which he stashes into the pocket of his trackpants. Serim finds it funny how Hyeongjun never throws away the wrappers of the caramel toffees, and scolds him at times in case the leftover caramel attracts ants to the dorm. He never listens, though, and as days go by the little tin box on the dressing table fills up to the brim with glistening and crumpled wrappers, peeking out because the box struggles to contain them all under one lid. Serim holds Hyeongjun's hand as they walk back home, the early morning feeling like an alternate plane of existence. The quiet of their town this early in the morning is like a siren, lulling them to sleep as both their eyes droop in exhaustion. 

The sweet begins to melt in Hyeongjun's mouth, and a wave of comfort washes over the boy. It was just toffee, and he never really understood why it made him feel better instantly. His exhausted mind too tired to analyse the psychology behind this, he pins it on the fact that it is Serim who gives these candies, therefore it reminds him of Serim and makes him happy. He is satisfied with this conclusion for now, but his thoughts continue to wander under the skies slowly fading from dark to light blue.

Questions lie unanswered between Serim and Hyeongjun. The younger wonders why his older brother had been at the studio so early at night, not knowing that Serim tossed and turned through the night worrying for the fact that one of his young brothers had not come home. Serim wonders why Hyeongjun stayed back in the studio for so long, even though he was arguably the best out of them all when they practiced as a group earlier in the day. The silence prevails, as both decide that some things were better unsaid, and they clasp each others' hands tighter as they make their way home.


End file.
